Question reference: S6W-26496
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 26 March 2024
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Current status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 15 April 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve the availability of dental appointments, in light of Public Health Scotland figures showing that more than a third of those registered with an NHS dentist did not have an examination or treatment for three years.
Answer
As of 1 November 2023, we have introduced significant dental payment reform with the aim of encouraging dentists to provide more NHS dentistry. Official statistics from Public Health Scotland published in February 2024 and reflecting system activity following reform show that nearly 400,000 patients were seen by an NHS primary care dentist in November. This is an early indication that the system changes have been received favourably by many NHS dentists. In addition to improving conditions for existing workforce through reform, we are also continuing to work with our counterparts across the UK and devolved governments to expedite process and bolster the number of dental practitioners working in Scotland now and into the future with a view to supporting greater availability of appointments.
The official measure of participation is the number of patients that have been seen in the last 2 years, and official statistics show that before the pandemic, participation was around 70%. Participation provides an indication of patient contacts within the system at a point in time but is not, in itself, an indicator of access noting that there may be many reasons why registered patients do not attend the dentist. We therefore use a range of data to understand the position in NHS dentistry, including regular qualitative discussion with NHS Boards to support local and national interventions to improve patient access.